Status of Race in America

Rather that talking about what the Obama presidency will mean for race relations in the US I would like to address a more specific and meaningful fact. The African American population as a minority in the US represents 12%:

Projections
Population projections
2008 --------->
2050 --------->

Non-Hispanic whites
68%
46%
Hispanic
15 %
30%
African Americans
12%
15%
Asian American
5%
9%

A report in August 2008[23] from the U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2042 non-Hispanic whites will no longer make up the majority of the population. This is a revision of earlier projections that this would occur in 2050. Today, non-Hispanic whites make up about 68% of the population. This is expected to fall to 46% in 2050. The report foresees the Hispanic population rising from 15% today to 30% by 2050. Today, African Americans make up 12% of the population, in 2050 they are projected to comprise 15%. Asian Americans make up 5% of the population and are expected to make up 9% in 2050. The U.S. has nearly 305 million people today, and is projected to reach 400 million by 2039 and 439 million in 2050.[24][25]

What this means is that specifically in terms of race, we have elected a president that represents about 1/10 of the population. What this means is not that we have rectified a series of past ills but that as a body politic we have demonstrated magnanimity that is not found anywhere in the world. Despite the confused reasons many of Obama's voters have for electing him they have pointed out an indisputable fact once again: America is supremely unique. That this country allows and encourages this type of power shift illustrates that our nation was built upon principles of freedom which create a flexibility of interpretations and motives.

Our founders gave us the opportunity to have a moral nation and the responsibility to keep it. We shirked the accountability needed and now reap the whirlwind.